BOSTON — Blue Jays catcher Rod Barajas is sitting out for Game 2 of this double dip in Beantown, thanks to a sore left hamstring. There’s a chance that Barajas will also be sidelined for tomorrow’s Fenway finale against the Red Sox.

So, that means Gregg “Grand Slam” Zaun is in the starting lineup tonight and will likely be behind the plate to catch Doc Halladay manana. Blue Jays manager Cito Gaston said Barajas has been bothered by the tight hammy lately, and he aggravated the injury when running from first to third during the sixth in Game 1.

“I’m day to day,” Barajas said between games. “We’ll see how it feels tomorrow.”

Also of note, my Michigan State Spartans were victorious today. So the competition was a tad on the weaker side — big deal. Next week it’s on to Notre Dame, and Zaunie — a big Irish fan — was already talking some smack this morning.

Today’s lineups:

TORONTO (80-68) at BOSTON (86-61)
at 7:05 p.m. ET at Fenway Park

BLUE JAYS
Joe Inglett, 2B
Marco Scutaro, SS
Alex Rios, CF
Vernon Wells, DH
Lyle Overbay, 1B
Adam Lind, LF
Scott Rolen, 3B
Gregg Zaun, C
Travis Snider, RF

PITCHING: RHP Jesse Litsch (11-8, 3.70)

RED SOX
Jacoby Ellsbury, CF
Dustin Pedroia, 2B
David Ortiz, DH
Kevin Youkilis, 1B
Mark Kotsay, RF
Jason Bay, LF
Jed Lowrie, 3B
Alex Cora, SS
Kevin Cash, C

PITCHING: RHP Bartolo Colin (4-2, 4.09)

BOSTON — Headed over to The Southpaw today, one of the Blue Jays’ fan blogs I frequent to keep the ol’ finger on the pulse of the fan base (or something), and there was an item noting a report that Toronto’s team ERA is the best in the American League since 1985

Decided to see if there was any truth to that, and I hate to be the bearer of bad news, but it’s not even the Blue Jays’ best since ’85. With the aid of Toronto’s fine PR staff, we looked up the best staff ERA’s in the league since the Jays came into existence in 1977.

The best of the lot is the 1981 Yankees, who had a 2.90 team ERA in the strike-shortened season. The second-best is the 1989 A’s group that had a 3.09 ERA. The Jays’ current 3.54 team ERA, if it holds up, would rank 23rd overall in the Americal League, dating back to ’77.

The current staff would be the third-best showing since the Jays became a franchise. In 1985, Toronto had a 3.31 team ERA — ranked eighth since 1977. The 1991 Toronto squad had a 3.50 team ERA — good enough for 20th overall over that span.

BOSTON — Running behind here. Funny how that always seems to happen when A: I’ve been off for a few days (I guess I need time to get back into game shape) and B: There’s a rain delay.

You would think rain delays would make life easier on us scribes — maybe we’d be able to bring you the news sooner with all the “down” time. Turns out, it tends to make for a more relaxed atmosphere and makes our time down on the field before the game drag beyond when it normally would.

But, no excuses. I’ll get back to the normal routine from here on out.

Prior to the game, it was cloudy, but not raining. When Jays manager Cito Gaston came out around 4:45 to meet with the media, he had this to say:

“I don’t think we’re going to get a chance to hit. I think about 5:00 or so it should start raining and it’s going to be off and on all night.”

Well, what do ya know? As Cito went on with the interview, and the clock ticked beyond 5, it started to rain and then rain harder and harder and then the tarp came out. This game didn’t get going until 7:46 p.m. (a very lengthy rendition of the Star Spangled Banner added on a minute or two) and it’s now in the third with a steady rain still falling.

But, as Cito also said:

“I don’t think any of us would like to see back-to-back doubleheaders.”

Therein lies the issue. This game probably wouldn’t be played tonight in the current conditions, but for the fact that Toronto and Boston engage in a double dip tomorrow. A rainout tonight would’ve likely meant another double on Sunday. They’ll do all they can to get five in tonight to make this official.

No big news from pregame. Rios is swinging a hot bat. Cito doesn’t see why Snider can’t make the Opening Day squad next year. And Ryan and Downs could use a day off or two, but Cito plans on sticking with his best guys while the club is still on this run, so those two will continue to see their innings, if needed.

Now, for your belated “pregame” lineups:

TORONTO — Believe it or not, I will not be making the trek back home to Chicago to see the Blue Jays go for nine (or more?) in a row against the White Sox this week. I’ll be meeting up with the team in Boston for the weekend set against the Red Sox.

So, I won’t be in Chi-town for the ticker tape parade after the Bears’ complete thrashing of the Indianapolis Colts. Man, where was that when we needed it in the Super Bowl? All this does is raise my low expectations for my favorite football team. But, I guess Chicago should get some respect after this Week 1 upset.

You know who is getting some respect around baseball? Your Toronto Blue Jays. Eight wins in a row: the club’s longest streak since 1999. Sweeps over the Twins and Rays: teams in the hunt for the playoffs. The pitching staff: best in baseball. Other teams: taking notice.

“Toronto has been playing really well,” Yankees third baseman Alex “Ha!” Rodriguez said. “I’ll tell you what – a lot of people should be happy that they’re not in the playoff race, because they’d be the scariest team with the one-two punch they’ve got over there of Halladay and Burnett. They’re playing good baseball.”

Not in the playoff race? Shoot, if Toronto goes undefeated in September (not gonna happen) it’ll be right in the mix! Don’t look now, but the Jays have passed the Yankees in the standings for third place in the East. This eight-game swing against the White Sox and Red Sox is going to be a toughy.

Catch you from the Fens later this week…

TORONTO — With the bases loaded and two outs in the bottom of the 13th on Saturday night, Gregg Zaun strolled to the plate with the game on the line and the joke up here in the pressbox was that the catcher should pull a Babe Ruth and call his shot.

After all, he had done it before.

Then, as if to mock our joking, Zaun crushed the first pitch he saw from Rays closer Troy Percival and sent it over the right-field fence for a walk-off grand slam. After the game, Zaun was in a great mood, joking with reporters. One of us scribes chimed in: “Did we see you call your shot?”

“No, no, no,” Zaun said laughing. “Don’t get anything stirred up over there. Troy throws awfully hard. I don’t want to wear one in the earflap.”

TORONTO — At the season’s midpoint, the Blue Jays were a half-game out of last place in the American League East and seemed to have little hope of doing much in the second half. Each year, us MLB.com scribes are charged with the task of making a “fearless” forecast for the second half, for our annual midterm report.

Yours truly went with this: “Fearless second-half prediction: In an increasingly tough AL East, the Blue Jays will make a push in the second half to finish in third place. Considering how the first half went, that’d be a solid placing for Toronto.”

The standings back then:

BOSTON        57-40 (–)
TAMPA BAY  55-39 (.5)
NEW YORK   50-45 (6)
TORONTO     47-48 (9)
BALTIMORE  46-48 (9.5)

And the standings today:

TAMPA BAY  85-54 (–)
BOSTON       83-57 (2.5)
NEW YORK   75-66 (11)
TORONTO     74-66 (11.5)
BALTIMORE  63-77 (22.5)

Jays have won six in a row — the club’s longest streak since 2004 — and the Yankees are slipping. Toronto might just snag its practically-annual third-place position after all. That series against the Yankees from Sept. 23-25 is gonna be HUGE! Mark your calendars.

Today’s lineups:

TAMPA BAY (85-54) at TORONTO (74-66)
at 1:07 p.m. ET at the Rogers Centre

RAYS
Akinori Iwamura, 2B
B.J. Upton, CF
Carlos Pena, 1B
Cliff Floyd, DH
Willy Aybar, 3B
Eric Hinske, LF
Dioner Navarro, C
Gabe Gross, RF
Ben Zobrist, SS

PITCHING: RHP James Shields (12-8, 3.66)

BLUE JAYS
Joe Inglett, 2B
Marco Scutaro, SS
Alex Rios, CF
Vernon Wells, DH
Adam Lind, LF
Lyle Overbay, 1B
Scott Rolen, 3B
Gregg Zaun, C
Travis Snider, RF

PITCHING: RHP Shaun Marcum (8-6, 3.60)

TORONTO — Let’s try something here. Everyone is pretty much assuming — myself included — that Cleveland’s Cliff Lee has the American League Cy Young Award wrapped up. Roy Halladay undoubtedly deserves to be in the discussion, though.

So, let’s remove their records, because we all know wins and losses aren’t always indicative of how well a pitcher has performed (we all should know that by now, anyway), and take a look at their respective seasons in the ol’ Player A and Player B format.

PLAYER A:

2.32 ERA, 194 1/3 innings, 177 H, 50 ER, 27 BB, 149 K, 78 Quality Start percentage, 5.52 K/BB, 6.90 K/9, 14.7 pitches per inning, 266 grounders, 1.05 WHIP, .244 opponents’ batting average, four complete games, two shutouts

PLAYER B:

2.69 ERA, 211 innings, 186 H, 63 ER, 34 BB, 178 K, 68 Quality Start percentage, 5.24 K/BB, 7.59 K/9, 14.5 pitches per inning, 321 grounders, 1.04 WHIP, .235 opponents’ batting average, eight complete games, two shutouts

So, who’s your pick? It’s pretty close, isn’t it? Well, Player A is Lee, who has a 20-2 record with 5.97 runs of support per start. Player B is Halladay, who is 17-9 going into tonight with 4.73 runs of support per start. Maybe Lee shouldn’t be a shoo-in…

Just saying.

Today’s lineups:

TAMPA BAY (85-53) at TORONTO (73-66)
at 7:07 p.m. ET at the Rogers Centre

RAYS
Akinori Iwamura, 2B
B.J. Upton, CF
Carlos Pena, 1B
Cliff Floyd, DH
Willy Aybar, 3B
Eric Hinske, LF
Dioner Navarro, C
Gabe Gross, RF
Jason Bartlett, SS

PITCHING: RHP Andy Sonnanstine (13-6, 2.69)

BLUE JAYS
Joe Inglett, 2B
John McDonald, SS
Alex Rios, RF
Vernon Wells, CF
Adam Lind, DH
Rod Barajas, C
Lyle Overbay, 1B
Scott Rolen, 3B
Travis Snider, LF

PITCHING: RHP Roy Halladay (17-9, 2.69)

TORONTO — One play that kind of got lost among the pile of twists and turns in Wednesday night’s 5-4 extra-inning victory over the Twins was an absolute gem of a grab by Blue Jays third baseman Scott Rolen.

In a 4-4 deadlock, with two outs in the top of the 10th inning and a runner on third base for Minnesota, Alexi Casilla smoked a pitch down the third-base line. Rolen glided to his right and made a swift back-handed stab at the ball as he dropped to his knees.

Rolen recovered quickly, rising to one knee — just high enough to provide enough leverage to fire the baseball across the diamond to first baseman Lyle Overbay. If Casilla was safe, a run scores and the Twins grab a 5-4 lead. But Rolen — as he’s done so often this year — made a rocket of a throw that retired the runner in time.

“Like I’ve said, Rolen is the best third baseman I’ve ever been around,” Blue Jays manager Cito Gaston said. “Rolen continues to amaze me with the plays that he makes, and the accurate throws that he makes after he catches the ball from his knees.”

Shortstop John McDonald was hustling over to back Rolen up on the play, so he didn’t have the greatest view of the catch — not that Johnny Mac needed to see it. Once he figured Rolen had it in his glove, the shortstop knew it was inning over.

“As soon as [the umpire] called it fair I knew Scotty was going to make the play,” McDonald said. “He’s the best third baseman in the game, so you kind of start jogging off the field once he gets the ball in his glove.”

Today’s lineups:

MINNESOTA (77-62) at TORONTO (72-66)
at 7:07 p.m. ET at the Rogers Centre

TWINS
Denard Span, CF
Alexi Casilla, 2B
Joe Mauer, DH
Justin Morneau, 1B
Jason Kubel, RF
Delmon Young, LF
Mike Redmond, C
Matt Tolbert, 3B
Nick Punto, SS

PITCHING: RHP Kevin Slowey (11-8, 3.70)

BLUE JAYS
Joe Inglett, 2B
Marco Scutaro, SS
Alex Rios, RF
Vernon Wells, CF
Adam Lind, DH
Rod Barajas, C
Lyle Overbay, 1B
Scott Rolen, 3B
Travis Snider, LF

PITCHING: RHP Jesse Litsch (9-8, 4.01)

JUST FOR FUN: Since Gaston took over as Toronto’s manager on June 20, the club has been one of the best in the American League. Here are the the AL East standings since Gaston’s arrival:

TAMPA BAY: 41-24 (–)
TORONTO: 37-27 (3.5)
BOSTON: 36-28 (4.5)
NEW YORK: 35-31 (6.5)
BALTIMORE: 25-42 (17)

Overall, the Jays have the fourth-best mark in the league since Gaston came on board, trailing only the Angels (43-24), Rays (43-29) and Twins (40-26). Soooo, if the season started on June 20 and ended on Wednesday, the Jays would be hanging a Wild Card championship banner in the Rogers Centre rafters. Ah, well…

TORONTO — Anyone notice the errorless streak the Blue Jays have been on lately?

Entering tonight, Toronto has gone a frachise-record 13 consecutive games without making an error — a span of 116 innings. It’s the longest such run in the Majors this season and the longest since the Red Sox went 17 straight games without an error from June 11-30, 2006.

Toronto also ranks first in the American League and second in the game with a .987 fielding percentage. The Jays have made just 16 errors in 41 games since the All-Star break, representing the fewest in the league. On the year, the Jays have 65 errors — also the fewest in the AL.

The Jays certainly have the pitching and defense thing down.

Today’s lineups:

MINNESOTA (77-61) at TORONTO (71-66)
at 7:07 p.m. ET at the Rogers Centre

TWINS
Denard Span, RF
Alexi Casilla, 2B
Joe Mauer, C
Justin Morneau, 1B
Jason Kubel, LF
Brian Buscher, DH
Nick Punto, SS
Matt Tolbert, 3B
Carlos Gomez, CF

PITCHING: RHP Nick Blackburn (9-8, 3.75)

BLUE JAYS
Joe Inglett, 2B
Marco Scutaro, SS
Alex Rios, RF
Vernon Wells, CF
Adam Lind, LF
Rod Barajas, C
Lyle Overbay, 1B
Scott Rolen, 3B
Travis Snider, DH

PITCHING: RHP A.J. Burnett (16-10, 4.48)

TORONTO — The Rogers Centre has its own little TiVo in the tunnel behind the first-base dugout now. Just around the corner from the visitors’ clubhouse, there is an area blocked off by a black curtain — this is where the instant replay area is at the ballpark.

Behind the curtain, there is a locked security box and inside there is a telephone with a direct line to the MLB Advanced Media headquarters in New York, as well as a nice little HD television. There’s also a box of tissues to keep the TV crystal clear. Or, maybe they’re there in case an ump needs to wipe away any tears of embarrassment after blowing a call.

So, if there is a disputed homer, the crew chief on hand will head to this little black booth, where he will call NYC to consult a video technician, along with a former umpire of an umpire supervisor. Ultimately, the crew chief at the stadium has the final say on the home run decision.

Also, your September callups: Shaun Marcum, Scott Richmond, Brian Wolfe, Brad Wilkerson, Kevin Mench and Curtis Thigpen. Marcum, who admitted he was so stunned the demotion that he almost considered just going home, will be slotted back into the rotation on Saturday.

Today’s lineups:

MINNESOTA (77-60) at TORONTO (70-66)
at 7:07 p.m. ET at the Rogers Centre

TWINS
Denard Span, CF
Alexi Casilla, 2B
Joe Mauer, C
Justin Morneau, 1B
Jason Kubel, RF
Randy Ruiz, DH
Delmon Young, LF
Brian Buscher, 3B
Nick Punto, SS

PITCHING: LHP Glen Perkins (12-3, 3.96)

BLUE JAYS
Marco Scutaro, 2B
Jose Bautista, DH
Alex Rios, RF
Vernon Wells, CF
Rod Barajas, C
Adam Lind, LF
Scott Rolen, 3B
Lyle Overbay, 1B
John McDonald, SS

PITCHING: LHP David Purcey (2-5, 5.53)